Top Stories – Aug 28 – Burns Continue

More residents were able to return home on the weekend as evacuation orders were lifted and in some cases alerts were lifted as well. There are still a few properties on evac order in West Kelowna and WFN, and more up Westside Road to Fintry where the major fire damage occurred. The resource booklet, ‘Returning Home Information Guide’ is available on the CORD Emergency website for residents returning to their homes. Back burns were being done in behind Smith Creek yesterday. While the fires in Lake Country and Kelowna are classified as ‘held’, and everyone has been allowed to return home, there continue to be local fire crews patrolling alert areas and actioning hot spots.

A campaign has been launched to help people affected by the fires in the Okanagan. Firefighter societies in West Kelowna and Kelowna along with the Lake Country fire department have set-up a relief fund, which will provide essential support to fire victims. More information at centralokanaganfirerelief.ca .

Things are pretty much back to normal at Kelowna International Airport. After no, or reduced flights for a number of days at the height of the wildfires, most flights are now arriving and departing. There could still be some hiccups, so as usual, the advice is to check with your airline before heading to the airport.

The Glenmore landfill is reopening today. At first only household waste will be accepted for disposal. Residential curbside collection of garbage and recycling resumes today for residents in Evacuation Alert areas. Curbside yard waste will not be collected at this time anywhere in the region. On the west side, the transfer station on Asquith is also accepting household garbage, no yard waste or clean wood is allowed at this time.

BC Hydro says damage is extensive to its system from the McDougall Creek wildfire. About 27 kilometres of power lines, 346 poles and 66 pieces of other equipment will need to be replaced. Crews have restored power to about 600 customers in the area, however, it is too early to say when it will be restored to the remaining 600.

Fire crews have managed to save the town of Hay River in the Northwest Territories, but a wildfire burned to within 1.5-kilometres of its centre. Winds pushed the fire back on itself in many areas Saturday, but were expected to shift direction yesterday. The fire danger is also high for Yellowknife.

Most regional parks including Knox and Dilworth that were closed because of the fires have been reopened. Those that remain closed include Coldham, Upper Glen Canyon, Okanagan Centre Safe Harbour and Trepanier Greenway. Those closed until further assessment are Raymer Bay, Rose Valley, Stephens Coyote Ridge and Traders Cove. Knox Mountain Drive remains closed to vehicle traffic as is usual in the summer.

The Rutland Health Centre on Gray Road is temporarily closed due to a fire damaging the building yesterday morning. Interior Health is working to resume services as soon as possible. Appointments today are cancelled, and people will be called to reschedule. A restoration company is assessing the damage.

SPORTS

The Okanagan Sun lost their first football game of the season on the weekend, 52-23 to the Westshore Rebels. The Sun do not have a game scheduled for this coming weekend.

The Blue Jays could only win 1 of 3 games against Cleveland on the weekend and find themselves farther back for the final wild card spot in the American League.

In a meeting of the two bottom teams in the CFL yesterday, the Edmonton Elks won their first home game since October of 2019. They beat Ottawa 30-20.

The PGA TOUR Champion for 2023 is 25 year old Viktor Hovland from Norway who won the final event of the schedule yesterday. Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor finished 25th while Ontario’s Corey Connors was 26th.

The Dutch F1 Grand Prix was a home win for points leader Max Verstappen. It was also his 9th straight win, tying the F1 record.